Press Digest for Friday September 27, 2013

The following are summaries of today's major stories published in the Arabic press. LBCI does not edit press digest articles for content, giving English-language readers insight into the various views expressed in newspapers across the Arab world.

An-Nahar Daily published an article on Friday whereby it
reported that, according to confidential documents made available to the
newspaper, the Telecommunications Ministry is intentionally avoiding meeting
the requests of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, therefore hindering its work.

In this context, well-informed sources quoted STL officials
as saying that they do not recognize the reasons leading Telecommunications Minister
Nicolas Sehnaoui from cooperating with the tribunal.

The Minister
of the Displaced Alaa Eddine Terro stressed
that MP Walid Jumblatt is neither affiliated with March 14 nor with the March 8 forces,
noting that Jumblatt was the one to propose the 8-8-8 formula for the new
cabinet as a solution for the political crisis, but Hezbollah and its allies in
the March 8 coalition rejected it.

In a statement
to al-Joumhouria Daily, Terro denied that a governmental formula had been
prepared, stressing that discussions are underway between all the parties in
order to reach a new solution that satisfies all blocs.

“If all
the parties agree to form a new cabinet with a blocking third, we will not object,” he noted.

On another
note, the minister said that the meeting expected to be held between MP
Jumblatt and the head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun depends on
the developments in the country.

The Director of Lebanon's office of the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Ann Dismorr explained that several reasons
lie behind the conflicting reports that emerged regarding the number of
Palestinian refugees who fled Syria.

Dismorr said that the UNRWA does not
register the Palestinian refugees, whose number varies between 54 and 90
thousand people, since their files remained in the agency’s office in Syria.

In a statement to an-Nahar Daily, Ann Dismorr revealed that
the accurate number of the Palestinian refugees is close to 45 thousand, including 6
thousand children who were enrolled in the agency’s 69 schools, pointing out
that the number of the Palestinians residing in Lebanon increased by 16%.

The agency’s director praised the cooperation of the Lebanese
General Security and the administration of the al-Masnaa crossing, as well as
the help the of the Social Affairs Ministry, calling on the Lebanese authorities
to keep the borders open.

However, Dimsorr stressed that the Palestinians who came from
Syrian camps enjoy health care services, which had prevented diseases from
spreading.

Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations Nawaf Salam said
that the meeting held by the International Support Group for Lebanon is a
crucial political message since it stressed the importance of the statement
issued by the UN Security Council on the 10th of July 2013.

The said statement expressed
the 5 permanent member states’ support for the dissociation policy, the Baabda
Declaration, the implementation of UN resolution 1701, boosting the mission
of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon and assisting Lebanon in
facing the challenges resulting from the Syrian war, mainly the influx of Syrian
refugees.

In a statement to as-Safir
Daily, Nawaf Salam said that all the concerned UN agencies and organizations
stressed the need to support Lebanon’s stability and security, calling on the
Lebanese authorities to take advantage of much needed international support.